PORTLAND, Ore. — Four Cougars finished in double figures as BYU women’s basketball topped Portland 72-58 on Thursday night at the Chiles Center, in the first West Coast Conference game of the season.
"We started off the game well," BYU head coach Jeff Judkins said. "We also had a good third quarter. It was a good road win and a good team effort. I thought Amanda (Wayment) had a great game. She was active and it was good to see her play well. Paisley (Johnson) also gave us a good lift off the bench."
Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee led BYU with 14 points, while Brenna Chase had 12 points for the Cougars. Sara Hamson and Amanda Wayment both chipped in 10 points apiece, with Wayment also bringing down a team-high 11 rebounds for the double-double.
After Portland scored the first basket of the game, Devashrayee knocked down a 3-point field goal to give BYU (6-6, 1-0 WCC) the early 3-2 advantage. Wayment then scored four-straight points for the Cougars, increasing BYU’s lead to five, 7-2.
With 4:29 to go in the first quarter, Chase buried a 3 to extend BYU’s lead to eight, 14-6. After the Cougars increased their lead to 11, the Pilots (4-8, 0-1 WCC) made two 3-pointers to close the gap to seven, 19-12. BYU led 20-12 at the end of the first quarter.
Portland cut BYU’s lead to five with 8:22 on the second quarter clock before the Cougars went on a 11-3 run to capture their largest lead of the game so far, 33-20. BYU took the 37-23 lead into halftime.
The Cougars started the second half on an 8-0 run, forcing an early Portland timeout. Out of the timeout, Chase and Malia Nawahine scored back-to-back layups to give BYU the 26-point, 47-23 lead. The Pilots responded scoring 11 unanswered points to bring Portland within 15, 49-34.
Hamson put an end to the Pilot’s 11-0 run, scoring the Cougars’ first basket in nearly four minutes at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter. BYU finished the third quarter going 1 of 8 from the field, but managed to take the 51-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Cougars began the fourth quarter strong, going on a 6-0 run. The Pilots countered with a 6-0 run of their own to make the score 57-44 with 4:59 left in the game. After Darian Slaga scored another basket for the Pilots, Hamson responded with a jumper to curb the Portland run.
With 2:17 on the clock, Chase scored a runner in the lane to keep BYU ahead 63-50. The Cougars closed the game outscoring the Pilots 9 to 8.
BYU women’s basketball will continue its first conference road trip as the Cougars head to Moraga, California, to play Saint Mary’s. The Cougars and Gaels will tip off at 2 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast live on theW.tv.
BYU at Portland Postgame Notes
Team
BYU took the 37-23 advantage into the locker room after leading by 16 with two minutes left in the half. The Cougars were up by 26 points with 7:26 left in the third period. BYU won the game with a 14-point, 72-58 road victory over Portland to go 1-0 in West Coast Conference play.
The 72 points scored by BYU in the victory over Portland mark the seventh time on the year that the Cougars have scored at least 70-plus points.
For the third time this season, four BYU players finished with double digits in points. In the road game at Portland, Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee had a team-best 14, Brenna Chase tallied 12, with Amanda Wayment and Sara Hamson chipping in 10 each.
In the first half of play, the Cougars had scored 14 points in the paint compared with four for the Pilots. BYU finished with 38 points in the paint and Portland had 16.
BYU capitalized on Portland miscues with seven points in the first half. The Pilots had none through the first 20 minutes of action. For the game, the Cougars tipped in 15 points from Portland turnovers. The Pilots had nine points from BYU mistakes in the game.
The Cougars pulled down 23 boards in the first half compared with 20 for Portland. For the game, BYU had the advantage grabbing 43 rebounds to the Pilots 39.
BYU shot 41.4 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from the charity stripe in the first half. The Cougars finished shooting 41.0 percent from the field and 76.0 percent from the free-throw line.
In the first half, BYU had five steals to Portland’s two. The visiting Cougars finished with eight steals to the Pilots four.
Player
Amanda Wayment picked up her second double-double of the season with 10 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. She led the way in rebounds with a first-half high seven. Wayment also had a team-high three steals for the game.
Cassie Broadhead Devashrayee led all scores in the first half with 10 points along with five rebounds, and three assists. For the game, she finished with a team-best 14 points, seven rebounds and tied for team highs in assists with five.
Sara Hamson came off the bench to record a halftime high four blocks to go with four points and two rebounds. She concluded the league contest with her first game scoring in double figures with 10. She grabbed three rebounds and ended the game with the four blocks.
Brenna Chase picked up her 10th game with double figure points with 12. She added five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the road win.
Paisley Johnson came off the bench contributing nine points from 3 of 4 shooting from the field. She also had two assists and one steal.